She walked away, and Lita followed behind her.
“We’ll need to walk far enough away to make sure he isn’t able to hear us.” Lita pointed off into the distance.
“I wonder what she saw,” Hunter said quietly, still keeping his eyes closed.
“Nope. Push it from your mind, Hunter. You’ve only got one shot at this. You need to prepare yourself mentally for what’s about to happen.” Asher walked up and put his hand on his son's shoulder. “From what I know, the pain of becoming a tribrid is intense. You’re going to need to focus through this pain. On the other hand … the feeling you get from being marked by your mate is extreme in another way. A more pleasurable way. You’re going to need to push through both of these and focus on the blood potion.”
“You can do this, Hunter!” Chasen said encouragingly.
“I have to do this. But no matter what happens, I won’t live without her. I just would like to be able to see her beautiful face again.” Hunter smiled as he envisioned her in his mind.
He felt his father’s hand tense a bit on his shoulder. He could tell he didn’t like the idea of him staying with Freja if this failed. “Dad, don’t ask me to live without her, because I can’t.”
“Hunter, what if there’s an accident?” Asher’s voice was quiet and somber.
“I told Hunter I will protect Freja from him.” Chasen came to his brother’s defense.
“Yeah, but you won’t be around them all the time. What happens if there’s an accident in the bedroom? It only takes a split second, Hunter, and you could kill her. You would never be able to recover from that if you did.” Asher sighed, trying to reason with his son.
“He’s right, Hunter. If you ended up killing your own mate, you’d go crazy,” Grayson agreed.
“I’ll go crazy without her. Of course I’m afraid of an accident happening. I’m terrified of hurting her. But more than that, I’m petrified of not having her by my side. I need her. I’m willing to try anything in order to be together. And if that means making sure there’s never an accident, then that’s what I’ll do,” Hunter said with determination.
“And he’s back to clawing his eyes out.” Grayson growled lowly. The Alpha of the Black Ice Pack couldn’t have this weakness, let alone the Alpha King. He would have many enemies, and his eyesight would be vital.
“Look. Freja and I will decide what is best for us together. All I want is for you guys to support me and the decision we make. It’s our life and our choice. That’s it.” Hunter stopped the conversation right there. This wasn’t up for debate. No matter what anyone thought.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Freja and Lita talked away from prying werewolf ears, though Asher knew what was going on as Lita processed the information in her mind.
“I see. So we’ll need at least one upper-tier deity if we’re going to defeat the demon army,” Lita said quietly.
“I don’t see any other way around it. Only a tier-one deity will be able to stand against an original demon. Let’s just hope there’s only one, and that Leviathan is able to fight against him. It’ll still be a tough battle.” Freja dropped her gaze. “I wish we could have met under better circumstances.”
Lita smiled, sighing. “Me too. I can’t talk to Hunter. He won’t listen. You know how dangerous it will be if this doesn’t work and you stay together anyway, right? If he ends up accidentally killing you, it will destroy him.”
Freja felt a bit shocked. Her eyes flashed upward and at Lita. “Are you telling me that if this doesn’t work, I should leave him?” Her heart rate picked up as she felt the panic set in.
“Don’t you think it would be for the best?” Lita tilted her head, raising her eyebrows.
Freja shook her head furiously. “No, I don’t. I don’t think either one of us will be able to endure being alive without theother. Even if he has to live blindfolded around me, I think we would both prefer that.”
Lita frowned. It was exactly what she didn’t want to hear. Her mind connected with Asher’s, and she already knew Hunter felt the same way. The two of them left her no choice. What must be done would be done.
“So, you understand how the marking will take place, right? We will know immediately if my venom was enough. He will feel the burn immediately. Then the others must hold him tight and allow him to look at me. He will have to fight against the blood potion effect as his blood is changing. This is the only shot we have.” Freja changed the topic to something more important. That was what they needed to focus on now.
Lita’s eyes glazed over and then refocused as she had a private conversation with Asher. She looked at Freja and nodded. “I understand. I let Asher know that they’ll need to be prepared to hold Hunter back. Thank goodness we have the two guardians, too. If he turns into a tribrid, there’s no telling how strong he’ll be.”
“Okay, well, I guess we should get this started,” Freja said as she turned to walk back toward Hunter.
Lita frowned, reaching behind her and sighing as she touched the hard object she had tucked in the back of her pants. She closed her eyes and lifted her head to the breeze.
We aren’t wrong, Lita. We have to protect our son,Lita’s wolf Mira said, feeling her conflicted feelings.
I know, Mira. If this doesn’t work, I’ll do what is necessary.Lita felt the tears build up in her eyes. She knew how upset Hunter would be, how much it would hurt him. But she had to do what she could for her son. She opened her eyes and looked at the back of the auburn-haired girl. It would be a horrible death for her to die at the hands of her own mate. She could only do what she and Asher felt was right and hope she was making theright decision. She slowly began to follow after Freja, smiling when the girl turned her head and their eyes met. Yes, she was doing the right thing.
Hunter could smell Freja’s scent as she approached. He had continued to keep his eyes closed, just in case. He was ready. He needed to know what type of future he would have. Either this would work, and he could finally see his mate again, or it wouldn’t, and they would have to decide how they wanted to proceed. No matter what happened, he wasn’t going to live without Freja.
